Thousands of Russians celebrating the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany, where worshippers bathe in the icy waters of frozen lakes and rivers, have been forced to cancel their traditional ceremonies amid unusually warm winter temperatures.

Christians around the world have marked Epiphany, known as Three Kings Day for Catholics and the Baptism of Christ for the Orthodox, with a series of celebrations.

Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria have ignored warnings to abstain from mass gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic and taken part in centuries-old Epiphany traditions.